Nearly every person who has driven a motor vehicle has experienced a near accident when changing lanes because a vehicle was in a blind spot and the driver did not see the vehicle. For this reason, good driving practices suggest that the driver actually turn their head and view the blind spot area. However, this procedure requires the driver to remove his or her eyes from the road in front of the vehicle.
Accordingly, the art has developed many proposals for adding accessories to motor vehicles and their mirrors to permit a driver to view a blind spot. While somewhat successful, these accessories still have several disadvantages. For example, some of the accessories distort the image or change the size of the image. Still other accessories do not compensate for night driving conditions, while some other accessories are subject to glare from the lights of other vehicles. Glare might be focused into a driver's eyes thereby creating a distraction or a temporary blinding of the driver. Some mirrors that are located inside the vehicle have means for changing them to night driving conditions; however, the inventor is not aware of any side mirror that has a blind spot compensator and which also can be adjusted for night driving conditions.
Another significant disadvantage of those mirrors known to the inventor is the possibility that overhead objects and night lights may create a double image or a ghost image in the mirror. Such a double or ghost images may distract or disorient a driver or lead to false information being presented to the driver.
Still further, many mirrors which include means for compensating for vehicle blind spots cannot have the mirror and the blind spot compensator means adjusted independently of each other. This may lead to a situation where a driver, because of his or her position relative to the mirror, is forced to select a position of the mirror that creates glare because that is the only position in which the mirror will provide a blind spot coverage for that particular driver.
Therefore, there is a need for a side mirror for a motor vehicle that displays the entire field behind the vehicle, including the so-called blind spot without distortion and which is not subject to glare, and which can be altered for night driving.